The public has a legal right to access a rural pathway that has been used for that purpose for some time, even if it cuts through private property, the Ramblers Association claimed on Monday.
Referring to a 2005 court judgment, the president of the environmental NGO, Ingram Bondin, said it was illegal to block pathways regularly used by the public even if they were located on private land.
The authorities, he said, should intervene to address the worrying trend.
“The owner of a private road that has been open to the public cannot close it or bar the public from accessing it,” the judgment stated.
“Once the owner has permitted or tolerated the public walking through it, while retaining his proprietor rights over the road, this road becomes public in its use, and serves as a passage of transit,” it continued.
No-entry signs and gates have been popping up all over the countryside in recent weeks, prompting questions from the public about the right of access to parts of the countryside.
Bondin said it was now down to enforcement. The association was ready to initiate legal action to protect the most popular routes but it would not be shouldering the burden on its own.
“The authorities need to take action, and we are ready to help if need be. Since the scale of the problem goes beyond one or two cases, the solution needs to involve intervention by the State.”
Just last week, a trekker reported spray-painted no-entry signs on stones outside a popular trail to the hill known as il-Qolla in Rabat. Nature Trust has asked the authorities to intervene to open a nearby pathway in Fiddien Valley, after a farmer barred access to it.
The conundrum over rights of access to popular spots had boiled over in February when development lobby chief Sandro Chetcuti put up a gate barring access to Fomm ir-Riħ due to what he said were safety concerns.
The gate was pulled down following collective outrage and it later transpired the government enjoyed perpetual access to the foreshore.
Last week, it emerged that the Planning Authority had issued an order for the removal of yet another gate blocking a public pathway leading to Blata tal-Melħ, a scenic spot on Baħrija’s coastline, popular with hikers.
Bondin said the association had logs and photos of popular pathways and would use them in any court cases the NGO might have over the issue.
The problem was getting out of hand, he repeated, and the government needed to take a primary role in resolving it.
“The authorities need to issue a clear message when it comes to the right of access to regularly used pathways and our expectation is that they treat this matter with the urgency it deserves,” he said.
“We can’t go on like this – every week we are seeing problems of this kind in various locations.
"We wish to stress that our interest is confined to protecting the public's ability to walk through regularly used pathways. We appeal the public to do this in a responsible manner, by sticking to the pathways and respecting other countryside users.”